We’re Not Here For Your Entertainment
The ugly side of wearing alternative fashion
I’ve never been one to dress normally. As a child, my mother made most of my clothes — cute colourful dresses and practical shorts, lovely but not entirely conventional. As a teen I went through the hippie phase, the tomboy phase, the edgy goth phase, and that time where I liked tattered skirts, fishnets, and beehive hair (don’t ask). These days? I’m into lolita fashion and general nerdy kawaii. So I’m used to not looking like everyone else and have a pretty thick skin regarding being different — it’s just who I am. But recently, I was reminded how challenging something as simple as wearing alternative fashion can be.
My husband James and I were in Tokyo for a holiday, and while there we met up with some friends who we know through the alternative modelling community, and a friend of theirs. We were meeting in Harajuku so of course, fashion fiends that we are, we were all dressed up. I wore lolita and was big-skirted and frilly in black and pink with a sweet theme. James, who was sporting a blue-and-purple mohawk, wore a bright pink hoodie with anime style art and winged Adidas shoes. We got some looks, a lot of smiles, a few judgemental eyes. The usual. Sometimes it’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’s part and parcel of looking different — people actually notice you and react…
